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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSpecial Meeting MINUTES OF SPECIAL MEETING DANIA BEACH CITY COMMISSION MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2009 - 6:00 P.M. 1. Call to Order Mayor Castro called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. 2. Roll Call Present: Mayor: Anne Castro Commissioners: Bob Anton Walter Duke Albert C. Jones City Manager: Bob Baldwin City Attorney: Tom Ansbro Deputy City Clerk: Miriam Nasser Absent: Vice-Mayor C.K. McElyea Mayor Castro spoke about Resolution #2009-224 adopted by the City Commission on November 10, 2009, supporting an amendment to the Interlocal Agreement for Public School Facilities Planning, to change the Concurrency Service Area from the individual school boundary to eight (8) Concurrency Service Areas, each containing multiple school boundaries. She noted she is confused with the language in the resolution. Mayor Castro thought that the idea was to leave the boundaries without having to move our children all around; therefore she is not sure of the impact this would cause to Dania Beach. She would like the Commission to revoke the resolution. Commissioner Jones noted the impact would be that they could close down some of our schools. He said that when he looked at the resolution in detail, he realized it would not help us. Commissioner Jones motioned to rescind Resolution #2009-224; seconded by Commissioner Anton. The motion carried on the following 4-0 Roll Call vote: Commissioner Anton Yes Commissioner Jones Yes Commissioner Duke Yes Mayor Castro Yes City Attorney Ansbro noted that he received a letter from Patricia Rathburn, attorney for Elizabeth DelSapio, regarding the SE 5`h Avenue traffic circle issue. Ms. Rathbum's letter states that the Commission voted to make Ms. DelSapio whole and requested the amount of$2,700.00 to pay for attorney's fees. He asked the Commission if they wanted to make a decision now, or bring this matter for consideration at the next regular Commission meeting. City Attorney Ansbro clarified that Ms. DelSapio was not compelled to hire a lawyer. He advised he received a detailed invoice for this request. Mayor Castro noted we should not authorize payment tonight, since it would set a dangerous precedent. She asked City Attorney Ansbro to provide the Commission with copies of the correspondence received from Attorney Rathburn. It was the consensus of the Commission to discuss this matter at the next regular Commission meeting. 3. Ordinance#2009-015 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF DANIA BEACH, FLORIDA, AUTHORIZING THE PROPER CITY OFFICIALS TO EXECUTE AN AGREEMENT WITH THE CITY OF HOLLYWOOD FOR THE PURCHASE OF WATER; PROVIDING FOR CONFLICTS; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; FURTHER, PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. (FIRST READING) City Attorney Ansbro explained the purpose of the ordinance. He noted the ordinance authorizes City officials to execute the agreement, but we do not necessarily need to sign it until we are sure we have no other choice. Mayor Castro confirmed that this ordinance authorizes City officials to sign the agreement once we feel the terms are acceptable to the City. City Attorney Ansbro read the title of Ordinance #2009-015. Commissioner Anton clarified with City Attorney Ansbro that staff is not authorized to sign the agreement without the approval of the Commission. Mayor Castro remarked that the final approval would be done at a public meeting. Commissioner Jones confirmed that this ordinance would allow us to move forward should we need to do so. City Manager Baldwin noted he will not sign anything until the Commission has reviewed and approved the agreement at a public meeting. Commissioner Anton questioned if the proposed agreement with the City of Hollywood meets the criteria that we agreed upon with the South Florida Water Management District(SFWMD). Mayor Castro noted the purchase of water does not necessarily have to be from the City of Hollywood. She indicated that she is supportive of moving forward, based on what we promised the SFWMD; however, she is concerned that we currently do not know the plan. Mayor Castro would like staff to hold a workshop where we can hear an explanation from the experts so we Minutes of Special Meeting 2 Dania Beach City Commission Monday,November 30,2009-6:00 p.m. know what direction we are going. She said that although we think we can get water from our own wells, the SFWMD may not approve it. Mayor Castro remarked she does not want to spend a lot of money and find out later that the SFWMD will not give us a permit. City Manager Baldwin noted that he was planning to schedule individual meetings with each Commissioner to discuss the Nanofiltration plant issue. He advised that he is also planning to hire a consultant, for under $25,000, to hold an educational workshop on this matter. Mayor Castro said she wants to make sure we are not going backwards in the process. She asked for the educational meeting to be scheduled as soon as possible. Mayor Castro further noted that she wants to feel comfortable that she is voting for the right action to be taken at this time. City Manager Baldwin noted he is meeting with some consultants this week. Mayor Castro would like to select a consultant who is not currently doing business with Broward County, the City of Hollywood or the City of Fort Lauderdale. She wants to make sure we are getting objective advice. Commissioner Jones asked when the Nanofiltration plant would pay for itself. He wants to know how much it costs to treat the water with our plant. Commissioner Jones indicated he supported the Nanofiltration plant project, but is concerned that we are borrowing $6.6M and the SFWMD is talking about another policy. He said he has several questions on the Nanofiltration project, and he is not sure whether this is something we want to do at this time. Commissioner Duke echoed Mayor Castro's comments. He stated that we are facing a short- term issue and a long-term plan. Commissioner Duke questioned if we want to be a self- sustained City with water, or if it is better to outsource everything. He said it would not be easy to get quotes from consultants without telling them what our scope is. Commissioner Duke noted he is concerned about that process. He advised that other cities in Broward County have similar issues; it is not only our City. Commissioner Duke commented that sometimes we tend to be reactive with regard to the water issue. We now have an opportunity to be proactive and implement a long-term plan and hire the right expertise. He noted that he voted against the Nanofiltration plant project because he did not have enough time to review the information. Commissioner Duke cautioned the Commission not to attempt introducing any experimental technology such as the horizontal well. He disagreed with the Mayor regarding hiring a consultant that has been involved with Hollywood or the County; on the contrary, he thought this would benefit the City. City Manager Baldwin noted we are trying to find a consultant to look at the situation and educate the Commission as to where we are today, what our options are and what costs would be involved. He indicated that we are trying to find someone who has submitted similar proposals to other cities. Commissioner Anton agreed with the comments made by his colleagues. He said that there was an interesting comment made by one of the water specialists present at the meeting with the SFWMD regarding the Nanofiltration Water Treatment Plant issue, who said we needed to Minutes of Special Meeting 3 Dania Beach City Commission Monday,November 30,2009-6:00 p.m. compare the costs between running our own water and outsourcing our water services. Commissioner Anton remarked that we need to hold a detailed workshop with experts, including Fred Bloetscher and any other consultant. He noted that we need to do some homework on this issue before we spend a lot of money on the Nanofiltration project because we may not need the full capacity of the plant. Commissioner Anton indicated that the one-on-one meetings suggested by City Manager Baldwin are fine, but he would prefer a public forum where we can get input from different people. He noted he is willing to meet with the City Manager but he will not make a decision until we have a consensus from the Commission. Commissioner Duke noted the Nanofiltration plant could work for us as a long-term plan, but he would hesitate to use it until we have a comprehensive water plan and a valid water permit. He indicated he does not know how effective the workshop would be, until we have a study completed. The workshop could be informative but it will not put an end to our water problems. Commissioner Duke stated that this is one of the challenges of the Sunshine Law which does not allow Commissioners to discuss important City issues amongst themselves, hence making it difficult to plan for the future. Mayor Castro opened the Public Hearing. Seeing as there was no one to speak in favor or opposition, she closed the Public Hearing. Commissioner Anton motioned to adopt Ordinance #2009-015, on first reading; seconded by Commissioner Jones. The motion carried on the following 4-0 Roll Call vote: Commissioner Anton Yes Commissioner Jones Yes Commissioner Duke Yes Mayor Castro Yes 4. Adiournment Mayor Castro adjourned the meeting at 6:31 p.m. ATTEST: CITY OF DAANIIA, BLEACH C/��t.t,(� � "') qD'S F/ T v"^'-'r_ LOUISE STILSON, CMC es° — o'er ANNE CASTRO CITY CLERK = MAYOR—COMMISSIONER Approved: January 12, 2010 Minutes of Special Meeting 4 Dania Beach City Commission Monday,November 30,2009-6:00 p.m.